I kinda feel for PTA, I just hope one day he'll have the power and studio support to just have a Michael Ciment hanging around after each film for interviews, and the odd one with the Hollywood Reporter/Rolling Stone or whateverI feel like he's really been milked this time round. The film IS his statement, why does he need to make follow-up statement for his statement. I must say I prefer the ultra-rare interview Kubrick styles

good interview overall but the dude interviewing shows his ignorance sometimes, especially in these two parts from page 7:

Quote

Boogie Nights, which instantly established Andersonís reputation as one of the best filmmakers of his generation alongside Quentin Tarantino and David O Russell.

(emphasis mine)

DOR, seriously? maybe he was struggling to come up with more than 2 cinema-changing directors from the 90s but that dude is NOT it. that statement reminds me of that dude Brian Atene who made the FMJ audition tape for kubrick and went on about how Michael Curtiz was the best director ever. amateur. also this was embarrassing:

Quote

When I told Anderson I thought his movies were about America, he blanched. ďDonít say that!Ē he said, looking disgusted. ďDonít put those words in my mouth. Itís nauseating to even think about it that way.Ē

PTA: I have an interest in cults Ė everything is a cult, in a way. Whatís the difference between a cult and dropping my daughter off at school this morning? Itís a group of people gathered in one place pursuing a likeminded set of ideas and goals.

and from the same page:

Quote

You donít call him by his name, Lancaster Dodd?PTA: No, I call him Master. That is his name.

that's funny. i'd like to have seen what his expression was when he said that. oh and he's still watching porn! he name drops a current "great" young actress on page 4, whom he says resembles Julianne Moore. he's right.

When I told Anderson I thought his movies were about America, he blanched. ďDonít say that!Ē he said, looking disgusted. ďDonít put those words in my mouth. Itís nauseating to even think about it that way.Ē

^ This made my day.

I absolutely love how openly PTA is shutting down ignorant questions these days. Maybe he's getting too old for politeness.

I don't recall anything quite like this in his older interviews, but correct me if I'm wrong. It would be interesting to see a proto version of it.

The latest episode of the Austin Film Festival Podcast, On Story, is a 45 min discussion between PTA and Jonathan Demme. I haven't listened to it yet, but according to the description it's more focused on Demme's career than Paul's.

Logged

Some people have a fear of snakes. That was a somewhat rational fear. And you could do something about it at least. Stay away from long grass and nature documentaries. Easy. Others have a fear of heights. That was manageable too. Avoid tall ladders. But how do you cope when your fear is something you canít avoid? That you have no hope of staying away from? Being afraid of the sky, where are you going to go?

no one else in the world cares about the dude. he's a decent director, he got an oscar that one time, he made lots of films in different genres (not kubrick different, not even ang lee different, but whatevs), he has good taste in music. then for a long time nothing happened. he made a movie on video. and now i've run out of things to say about jonathan demme.

similar to his Bob Downey Sr obsession, the only reason to explain their elevated status (apart from one of them maybe being friends with his dad) is that they have close relatives who were notable drug users. one survived and went on to rule the world, the other, Ted, did not.

crazy mama, citizens band, melvin and howard, stop making sense, something wild, silence of the lambs, rachel getting married -- great character movies, and pta also makes great character movies. not sure the problem here

there's obviously no "problem" as there's obviously nothing wrong with him running his mouth about whoever he wishes.

my point, which you illustrated nicely by simply listing a bunch of movies he's made as if that means anything, is that apart from PTA's love of the guy Demme is really not very influential. and i wondered if anyone else felt the same way.

i'm not saying he's a BAD director, but who really gives a shit about him? before PTA started fanboying him hardcore i think he would hardly make anyone's list of "best directors" of the century or whatever.

it's like if i became someone of PTA's status and started talking about Curtis Hanson all the time. the dude is nothing special. i'm baffled why PTA gives him so much attention.. if "character movie" is the only justification then that really doesn't do much to set him apart from a million other directors. (obviously million = dozens)

i like when the silent partner plays the midnight circuit. from elliott gould's golden days, written by curtis hanson, it's a nice weaving of genre and naturalism. white dog, easy to admire. hanson is most well-known for la confidential, which is the most distinguished modern movie about classic hollywood crime and architecture. what's better, the black dahlia, gangster squad, something like that? nahhh, be serious. bad influence again weaves naturalism with genre, this time hedonism and greed because we're in los angeles in 1990 and james spader can't help but be impressed by rob lowe's mayhem adventures (lol, guyyyys). the hand that rocks the cradle exists, like bad influence, within a specific pop culture flavor of its time, and this one is when creepy sex-tinged thrillers were popular. when i first saw it i thought that was about as creepy as life could get, it understands creepy better than other thrillers from the bizarre explosive period of creepy thrillers. the river wild is in white waters with meryl streep, kevin bacon, and john c. reilly. story of my dreams. wonder boys is a chabon adaptation with all these bigname actors and i haven't seen it. when 8 mile came out i remember thinking it was like a version of gladiator, except instead of swords they used words. thought that was so fun

i think curtis hanson illustrates the appeal here is a consideration of the time period of the movies, and i think if you were pta's status you would talk about hanson bc you grew up while he was flourishing and your exposure to him could've helped you better understand how people merge with pop culture and become cinema. hanson is more appreciated in the genre community, and genre movies tend to lift character details for story purposes, while demme is more appreciated in the character community, bc he doesn't always allow his story to lead the characters, he much more depends on the character leading the story. demme influenced pta, i think pta feels that way, pretty sure